Automatic fuel-feeder.



n. R. KEITH.

AUTOMATIC FUEL FEEDER. Arrn mnlon rmm JULY is, 1912.

Patented July 1, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

j/ gl 1). R. KEITH. AUTOMATIC FUEL FEEDER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13,1912.

.1 ,066,281 Patented July], 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

9 Z? liilillllll "i D. 7?. Keith, NH/ mam My w-M m Tqallvwham 'c't may concern 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

AUTOMATIG 'FUEiU-F-EEDER! Specification of Letters Patent.-

Patented-Juiy-1,-1918;

Application filed July. 13,. mm. Serial No. 709,184.

Be it kno" n [that 11', Davml R pKnr'rir citizen of the "United"StatesMresidiH H 1% Fort Scott, in thecountyfof Bourbon and State of Kansas, have 'inuentednew: and

useful Impnovements in Automatic Fuel-- Feeders, of which thefollowing is--a speci- The illltlQHlDlOIlfi: relates toa a mechanical! staking. apparatus, and more particularly to the class of automatic zfuel. feeders for- -bil-- ers or other-furnaces.

Thei primary obj ect of the invention. is the l provision of a feeder-.1 of this character whereinna rotor--will distributetfuel-.-uniformly'over the-gratesurface of. a furnace so that the finer particles. of.- fuel areconsumed in the transit of the-supply over thefuel beds Another objectof the inventionl is --the=. provision of; an [automatic feederof; thischaracter; wherein, 1 fuel will be uniformly spread over. the fuel bed of a furnace so. that the carbonofwthe fuel will become intermingled with the gases from the ,fuel bed,

thereby assuring. perfect-.1 combustion, the.

smoke being: consumedz by the rotor when distributing the fuel.

A further-- object of the invention ;is the: provision-l of an apparatus -of .this character whichcanvbe readily attached .tov the. frontwallof a furnaceso as not to-interferewith the. hand firing.- and which will permit v access-to be-had! tolthe furnace during its operation.

Astill further object of-the inventionziis thezprovision of an automatic'feeder of thischaracter in which the smoker ordinarily present -withim theifine box of a furnace will; beQentireIy eliminated 'asthe fuel is distributed inthe formiof. aspray over the fire of thefunnace, and thusthe .entire charge 0f;

fuel. be -.burnedthereby avoiding the possibilit of waste, as the uniformdistribution-iof-d; eifuel overthe-fuel bed permits the entire consumption-,both= of the, large and small.- articles of the fuel.

A still urther object of the invention is the provision of an automatic .feeding device of this character in whicht-allakinds of fuel may be properly fed into the. furnace,

so as to be consumed thereby and for the perfect. combustion. .of .the ,same, the device being automatic inf-its action, and is capable of regulation for the proper feeding of the fuel to the furnace.

' A still; .furtherobj ect of. ;the invention is I the recision pfjan': automatic feeder of this chara ter *tvhichos slmplehin construction, thoroughly reliable and .eficientrin. its purpose and inexpensive in, manufacture.

With. these and other ;ohjects in. view the invention consists. in the construction, com.- bmation and arrangement of parts as willbe hereinafter, more; fully; described, illustratedemz thmaccompanying, drawings, and

pointed -out.=inthe, claims hereunto appended;

In the drawings: Figunel is afragmentar front .elevationof. a furnace of... the boi erv type .showing .the. ,-.automatic. feeder constructed ,in. accordance. with. the inven-:

tion mounted thereon, the casing; being, .removed; Fig, .2 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal. sectional.- view through the furnace and-feeder, Fig; 3 is a sectional view on-the line 3-3 of EFigb 1. Fig. 4: is a top plan .view of-the feeder. Fig. 5 is a side elevation. of -the.rotor.'

S1m1lar .reference characters indicate cor-- responding parts throughout the severalviews in the drawings,-

Iteferring to the drawing: by numerals, 1Q designates-a portion of a boiler furnace which is ofthe ordinary. well-known. cons. struction provided with a .fire box 11 in.

,bolteda rotor casing' l9 from which rises a hopper into which is introduced fuel adapted to.be-fed into thefire boxll, of the I furnace. 1

Arranged withintherotor casing19 is a rotor comprising a blade: wheel 21, each blade .22 thereofbeing provided with a fuel distributing pocket or cup 23 at its outer free end, while at the center of the wheel is formeda hub 24:provided with a squared central aperture 25 in which is received the upper squared end of a rotatableshaft 26 journaled in bearings 27 bolted or otherwise secured to the base plate 16,. the said shaft 26 being vertically disposed and the rotor is detachably fastened thereto through the medium of a lock nut 28 threaded on the upper end of the said shaft, while fixed to the opposite end of the latter is a beveled gear 29 meshing with a beveled fixed to a horizontally disposed driven shaft 31 the same being journaled in bearings 32 carried by the base plate 16 the driven shaft 31 being operated upon by any suitable motive power whereby rotary motion will be imparted to the rotor for the distribution of fuel received within the pockets or cups 23 thereof into the fire box 11 of the furnace.

The hopper 20 is detachably connected to the top of the casing 19 by means of bolt members 33, so that the said hopper can be readily removed to permit access to be had to the rotor thereby enabling the cleaning or repairing of the same when required. It is of course understood that the top of the rotor casing 19 is formed with a central opening 34 for establishing communication between the hopper. 20 and the rotor so that fuel contained within the hopper will be delivered into the rotor for distribution there by into the fire box 11 of the furnace. The fuel fed from the hopper 20 into the rotor will be uniformly distributed thereby over the entire fuel bed within the fire box of the furnace.

Mounted upon the base plate 16 and inclosing the shafts and gear connections therebetween is a hood or covering 35 which conceals the same and thereby excludes dust and other foreign matter therefrom. It will be noted that the doors 13 and 14 can be readily opened to permit access to be'had to the interior of the furnace without interference from the automatic feeding device. Slidably fitted within the discharge hopper 20 is a cut-off slide 36 whereby the quantity of fuel to be discharged into the rotor can be regulated as the occasion may require. It will be noted that the rotor casing 19 is positioned in a plane elevated above the plane of the fuel bed, so that the fuel will be thrown within the fire box 11 on the rotation of the rotor clue to centrifugal force, thereby spreading the said fuel so that it leaves the surface of the rotor in a uniform spray falling over the entire grate surface and in this manner assuring perfect combustion and entirely eliminating the presence of smoke during the stoking of the furnace. It will be apparent that when the fuel is being distributed and spread by the pinion 30 rotor the minute particles of fuel will be consumed in transit over the fuel bed and the carbon of the fuel will be intermingled Lvifih the gases from the burning fuel of the From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the construction and operation of the invention will be clearly understood, and therefore, a more extended explanation has been omitted.

What is claimed is 1. In an automatic feeder the combination with a furnace wall having an inlet opening, of a base plate fixed to said wall, alinlng bearings arranged in pairs at right angles to each other, a driving shaft journaled in one pair of bearings, a driven shaft journaled in the other pair of bearings, gear connections between the shafts, brackets extending outwardly from the base plate, a rotor casing supported upon said brackets and having'an open side coextensive with the opening in the wall, a rotor fixed to the driven shaft and located within the said casing, inwardly tapering ockets formed on and projecting radially rom the rotor, one wall of each pocket terminating short of the center of said rotor to provide an opening at the inner end and at one side of the pocket, and a feed hopper rising from the casing and communicating therewith.

2. In an automatic feeder the combination with a furnace wall having an inlet opening, of a base plate fixed to said wall, alining bearings arranged in pairs at right angles to each other, a driving shaft journaled in one pair of bearings, a driven shaft journaled in the other pair of bearings, gear connections between the shaft, brackets extending outwardly from the base plate, a rotor casing supported upon said brackets and having an open side coextensive with the opening in the wall, a rotor fixed to the driven shaft and located within the said casing, inwardly tapering pockets formed on and projecting radially from the rotor, one wall of each pocket terminating short of the center of said rotor to provide an opening at the inner end and at one side of the pocket, a feed hopper rising from the casing and communicating therewith, and a cut-off slide arranged within the hopper.

In testimony whereof I af iix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID R. KEITH.

Witnesses:

J. S. TURLEY, E. J. CHAPIN. 

